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News with a KickSat, 07 Nov 2015 18:00:26 +0000en-GBhourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.3.6‘Working Together’: new research project aims to engage autistic communityhttp://manchestermule.com/article/working-together-new-research-project-aims-to-engage-autistic-community
http://manchestermule.com/article/working-together-new-research-project-aims-to-engage-autistic-community#commentsSat, 07 Nov 2015 17:54:09 +0000http://manchestermule.com/?p=21098Researchers at the University of Manchester are appealing to members of the local autism community to participate in a series of workshops entitled ‘Working Together’, designed to help make research more relevant to people with autism spectrum conditions. Approximately 1% of the UK population has an autism spectrum condition, but many feel that the research does little to engage the community or translate advances and understanding into people’s lived experiences.

‘Working Together’ will discuss research with members of the autistic community, focusing on the research process, findings and any barriers that can arise. “We need to find out what their priorities are so we can tailor our research”, said Dr Emma Gowen, organiser of the project. “We also need to educate the autism community about the research process, so they develop realistic expectations and can choose how they would prefer to contribute.” Ultimately, the project aims to have participants develop research that is relevant to the issues they face in their daily lives.

Photo: Mike Peel

A recent study investigating the focus of autism research found that some participants felt ‘like monkeys in a zoo’, highlighting the fact that whilst they were invited to participate in research, they were seldom informed of the results of studies or how findings could impact upon their lives. Others felt that researchers acted as though they ‘[had] the right to talk down’ to the participants because of their diagnosis.

Many felt that research came too often from a medical perspective, rather than a social one. Results were only available in academic journals, which are expensive and written in prohibitive scientific terminology, making them an indecipherable jumble of complex jargon to those outside of the academic community.

Tying into this is a history of controversial autism research, such as the debunked study claiming that the development of autism conditions was linked to the MMR vaccine. The concern is that claims like this alienate the community by treating autism as an illness that can be caught or cured.

One participant in the study, an adult with autism, stated: “I find a majority of autism researchers I have managed to speak to unapproachable and more concerned with engaging in academic debates about autism as opposed to speaking to autistics.” ‘Working Together’ is seeking to bridge this gap, encouraging those taking part to be active participants, rather than letting them leave feeling like specimens in a laboratory.

As well as striving to make research more relevant, the organisers are also emphasising the need for funding. “Provision can be patchy and autistic adults and parents have told me there is very little support following diagnosis,” said Gowen. “There are few evidence-based interventions so more funding is required to understand what therapies work.”

As the government continues to strip back support from the communities that need it the most, inequality of opportunity for those on the autism spectrum will only increase unless research can become more effective in helping autistics to integrate into their local communities.

Edward PooleThe workshops will be taking place between the 11th and the 25th of November. Results and footage will be made public on the Autism@Manchester website.

]]>http://manchestermule.com/article/working-together-new-research-project-aims-to-engage-autistic-community/feed1‘Leader’ of Manchester Angels removed from ‘The Sock Exchange’http://manchestermule.com/article/wesley-hall-leader-of-the-manchester-angels-removed-from-sock-exchange
http://manchestermule.com/article/wesley-hall-leader-of-the-manchester-angels-removed-from-sock-exchange#commentsTue, 03 Nov 2015 15:41:18 +0000http://manchestermule.com/?p=21067Homeless rights activists have disposed of their self-appointed leader Wesley Hall. The revolution within a revolution is an attempt to end the damage being done to the homeless rights movement by Hall’s questionable character and ‘leadership.’

Manchester Angels founder and ‘leader’, Wesley Hall, has been kicked out of the squatted Stock Exchange building on Norfolk Street by fellow activists. In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Hall was forcibly removed from the site after just ten days of what has been described by another activist as his ‘dictatorship.’ Activists and residents of the temporary homeless hub, owned by former Manchester United player Gary Neville, stated they had grown tired of Hall’s ‘leadership.’ They claimed that he was refusing to allow homeless people to enter the site, while at the same time using intimidation and force to maintain his power and remove homeless people from the building. Hall has refuted these claims, blaming the right-wing press for attacks on his character.

The Stock Exchange, renamed the ‘Sock Exchange’, was squatted by homeless people and activists on the 17th October following a court order giving them 24 hours to leave the building they were then occupying on Charlotte Street. Manchester Angels, led by Hall, were involved, as were the Love Activists, a group well known for their attempt to use the Bank of England building in Liverpool as a shelter for the homeless. However, after ten turbulent days Hall lost the support of the Love Activists and faced criticism from many others both outside and within the building.

The occupation began almost like a miracle when owner Gary Neville, who is planning to turn the building into a luxury hotel, told the squatters that he was happy for them to stay until February. Despite this unexpected gesture, problems began just two days later.

On Tuesday 20th October, police were called to the site after a window was smashed and people had been trying to break in. Several homeless people set up tents on Market Street and claimed to have been kicked out of the Stock Exchange.

One of the group, Wesley Dove, stated: “We were told to come back later that day and then they kept telling us later times. I went mad. It’s not right. All of us homeless were outside while all of our stuff was in the building – blankets, clothes. And we were just stood in the pouring rain while ‘activists’ were in the building nice and dry.”

Wesley Hall responded: “There have been episodes of violence and we cannot have that in the same building as vulnerable people.” Neville began employing a security firm to protect the building between the hours of 9pm and 7am.

On Friday 23rd October, The Sun newspaper published an article entitled ‘Neville’s squatter is racist footie yob’, claiming that Neville’s ‘kindness’ was being ‘exploited by a thug’, and listing several of Hall’s violent convictions.

Hall responded via social media claiming the article was the “right-wing press” trying to “do a hatchet job”, and attempted to downplay claims made by his ex-girlfriend, stating: “the fact that this particular ex has sold a snide story to The Sun is laughable.”

Hall has stated that “The Sun and the other rags have breached the Rehabilitation Of Offenders Act, as the offences were more than 2 years old”, and that “there will be serious repercussions for the journalists”. This seems to be incorrect as, according to the Act he refers to, there is a buffer period of 4 years beyond the sentence imposed before the conviction is judged to be spent.

Details of the incidents that lead to him being jailed can be found here and here.

Later on the 23rd, ‘Manchester Street Angels’, a CNI registered charity that works alongside GMP to make the city safer for vulnerable young people, issued this statement: ‘To clarify our position, we have NO association with Mr Wesley Hall or his “Homeless Projects”. The confusion is damaging to our charity & the good work we do. We would like to invite anyone to research the groups, contact & question us & invest in the official street angel project for Manchester.’

For the next 3 days, amid reports from other activists inside the building that he was becoming increasingly paranoid, Hall posted a request for private security firms on several of his Facebook accounts. This request came despite the fact that Neville was already employing security to help protect the building.

Furthermore, statements from fellow activists raised questions about the occupation’s leadership and the safety of the squatters. Withdrawing their support for the project, The Love Activists stated: ‘We feel the occupation has been tarnished by the “Leadership” of a few… Autonomy is not being respected, and we cannot condone hierarchy or discriminatory behaviour. We believe this could be putting vulnerable people at risk.’

They emphasised that their withdrawal of support was based upon events inside the Sock Exchange, not on allegations regarding Hall’s past or ‘smearing articles in certain right-wing press’. Confirming their issues with Hall, they stated: ‘Currently, there are no homeless people “allowed” in the building, as Wesley Hall hasn’t ‘Opened’ it to them yet. They are all sleeping on the streets.’

In the early hours of the 28th October, Hall was forced out of the building by Neville’s security. Hall himself admitted:

“At 2:30am Wesley was physically forced out of the building by the private security firm and the whole scenario was bizarre… They pushed him out of the building in his socks.”

Local activists claimed he was seen “punching himself in the face” outside the Sock Exchange. Concerns have also been raised over previous homeless projects Hall has led in the past and many are questioning his online fundraising activities.

Alex Farley

]]>http://manchestermule.com/article/wesley-hall-leader-of-the-manchester-angels-removed-from-sock-exchange/feed3A locked-out generation: young people in the housing crisishttp://manchestermule.com/article/a-locked-out-generation-young-people-in-the-housing-crisis
http://manchestermule.com/article/a-locked-out-generation-young-people-in-the-housing-crisis#commentsSun, 01 Nov 2015 13:45:00 +0000http://manchestermule.com/?p=21054The housing crisis means that more and more young people are struggling to buy their own homes. The Prime Minister’s expansion of the Right to Buy scheme intends to turn the increasing number of young tenants from Generation Rent into “Generation Buy”, as indicated in his speech to the Tory party conference. Will it work?

Earlier this month David Cameron made an agreement with housing associations and the National Housing Federation that will extend the Right to Buy to allow over a million tenants in housing association properties. The tenants will be able to purchase their homes at a discount of between £9000 and £16,000, if they have lived there for over three years. The scheme has received criticism for ignoring the many people renting who cannot afford to buy and young people living with parents who cannot afford to rent or buy.

Right to Buy will not only decrease the social housing stock as council houses are being sold off to fund the policy. A report by Shelter calculates that around 113,000 council houses could be sold off to fund the scheme

Alongside this, Cameron plans for 200,000 starter homes to be sold at discount to market rates to first-time buyers under 40. To enable private housebuilders to offer this type of housing the Conservatives are scrapping their obligations to build/fund social housing. For Cameron, this policy is in line with the constantly emphasised Tory tag line: security.

Yet as the housing crisis worsens, it seems that there are many who doubt that Cameron’s plans will create “Generation Buy” and make affordable homes a reality for first-time buyers. Cameron’s changes to the definition of ‘affordable housing’ include properties worth up to £450,000 in London and £250,000 outside of London, have proved controversial.

The Mirror calculated that a single person would need to earn a salary of £55,000 to qualify for a mortgage of £250,000 to be able to buy an ‘affordable home’: more than double the national average salary. A couple without children would each need to earn £33,000 a year while a couple with children would struggle even more. If one parent worked part time, as many do, the other would have to earn around £61,000.

With George Osborne’s National Living Wage, the amount of hours people would be required to work to earn this kind of money would be virtually impossible in practice. And the living wage is only for over 25’s, making the prospects of owning a home for younger people – particularly young families – seem bleak. Because of this, many are renting properties which are unsecure, poorly maintained and expensive, or living with their parents.

A 22 year old mother from Stockport who now lives in Tameside with her partner and son spoke of having to bend the rules, in order to buy a house. “My partner owns our house, but when applying for the mortgage he did not declare that his pregnant girlfriend would be living there too because we would both be dependent on his income.

“Buying the house was very difficult.

“We had a budget of £100,000 with a £15,000 deposit. A £250,000 home would be affordable for a family with two decent incomes but that is not most people.”

According to a survey by the Institute for Public Policy Research, three quarters of people under 25 aspire to own their own home, but almost half of young people they surveyed renting believe it will be at least ten years before they are able to own a home.

The same survey showed that almost 20% of young renters claimed that they did not feel safe or secure in rented properties. Cameron’s policy promises to provide this security, but many young people feel that it will not help them to buy rather than rent, and may even make it more difficult to rent as more council-owned properties are sold off.

Alex, 21, who works in law in central Manchester, hopes to buy a property in the city centre. He claimed that “you need to be financially stable to buy and live in a house and nowadays it’s pretty tough to be in that situation when you’re young.”

Buying a house is important for young people who want a place to call their own. When asked about why he wanted to own a property, Alex said “it’s about having that independence for me. And a place to call my own where I can do whatever I want and it be mine. It’s sort of like another chapter to life when you move out.”

Southway Housing Trust in South Manchester is one of the many housing associations involved in the recent government deal extending the Right to Buy. Though the deal was presented as voluntary, many housing associations claimed they were effectively forced into agreeing by the options given to them: agree now, or the government will legislate for a more severe deal later.

Richard, communications officer for Southway Housing Trust, claimed that he imagined there was a “certain amount of coercion involved.”

On the starter home policy, Richard claimed that “there’s a need for more homes out there in general. It’s good to aspire to own a home but not everyone can do it. It is good that we can help younger people into homes but a lot of young people won’t be in any position to take advantage of even this new policy.”

“There is a definite need to encourage social housing and meet the real demand that’s out there,” he concluded.

A heavy mist suddenly falls on a darkened Manchester hiding from sight unspeakably hideous creatures. Drums can be heard in the distance lulling you into a hypnotic trance, the work of witches and demons no doubt. Or perhaps voodoo ring masters, descending onto the city streets armed with psychedelic beats banged out by their armies of musical Goblins possessed with the desire for mischief and fun. It must be that time of year again; it can only be the Illuminaughty Halloween party.

Manchester’s Piccadilly Gardens were treated to an unusual spectacle of friendly chaos last Saturday as a hoard on Goblins, Voodoo ringmasters and a whole host of other bizarre creatures descended upon the city centre in advance of what they describe as a ‘huge Halloween extravaganza’. The organisers of a full scale indoor festival have been pulling out all the stops to promote their event, and you could be joining them by entering the competition below.

The party will feature a cross section of DJs and artist from the worlds of Psy Trance, Drum and Bass, Breaks and more. There will also be a host of circus performers, dancers, visual artists, street food traders and an outdoor fairground to keep the party goers entertained.

IIlluminaughty has been providing a truly authentic Halloween experience to Manchester’s residents by showcasing a vast array of alternative music that is impossible to find on such a scale anywhere in Northern England. Being described as ‘the friendliest crowd in Manchester’ it is no surprise that the night is in its 10th year of success.

Chris Peet was hypnotised by the Goblins several years ago when he became entranced by the night’s unique features:

“The best thing is the atmosphere, everything is dolled up to the nines, the place looks amazing, beautiful and surreal. The people are all friendly, fun and dressed to impress ,or sometimes confuse; and the DJs and performers are all out of this world. It comes together to create this immersive other reality that lets you forget about the “real” world and gets you into that mischievous party mood. An epic experience like nothing you’ve ever seen, heard or felt before .”

IllumiNaughty, Lost City takes place on October the 31st at Bowlers Exhibition Centre in Trafford and will run from 7pm until 5am with an after party that runs from 5am until 9am.

The Mule has two tickets to give away to this fearful festival. All you have to do is like and share this article on Facebook! We will inform you by email and your names will be added to the Illuminaughty guest list. Good luck.

Poetry and science are two things generally not associated with each other, in fact if you joined the two in a word association test you would be one step closer to a chemical cosh and your very own padded cell. However the audience attending the Science Slam at the packed out Nexus Art Cafe Thursday night will never again doubt the validity of the two pursuits being combined; though I can’t rule out they may end up bouncing of the walls of a padded cell at some time in the future.

The Science Slam was one of many events on the first day of the Manchester Science Festival, which runs until the 1st of November at venues across Greater Manchester. The experimental collaboration was thought up by Dr Sam Illingworth and Mr Dan Simpson who also performed at and hosted the event on the night.

Video highlights of the Science Slam

Simpson, the poet of the duo who also writes about science, described how he and Illingworth had thought up the event:

“Originally it was going to be what a slam is, which is poets and scientists doing three minutes of material, having scores at the end and the highest score wins. But as we chatted more we realised that wasn’t the best way to do it, putting science and poetry against each other, so we decided to get them to collaborate.” This resulted in the evenings format of 5 local poets teamed up with a scientist each to create and perform 5 unique pieces on the night.

Teams:

Adrian Davison (scientist) & Lenni Saunders (poet)

Rebecca Docherty (scientist) & Dominic Berry (poet)

Ben Spencer (scientist) & Rebecca Audra Smith (poet)

Jo Browse (scientist) & Louise Fazackerley (poet)

Tim Walton (scientist) & Kieren King (poet)

Illingworth, a Lecturer in Science Communication at Manchester Metropolitan University was extremely pleased with how the show had been created, performed and received. “It wasn’t the poetry of science, it wasn’t the science of poetry, it was genuinely something interdisciplinary and it was amazing. I loved it, the audience loved it, and I feel incredibly privileged to have worked with such an incredible group of people.”

]]>http://manchestermule.com/article/science-slam-a-synergy-of-science-and-poetry-transcends-expectations/feed2Seeds of resistance sown at housing crisis event in Salfordhttp://manchestermule.com/article/seeds-of-resistance-sown-at-housing-crisis-event-in-salford
http://manchestermule.com/article/seeds-of-resistance-sown-at-housing-crisis-event-in-salford#commentsWed, 21 Oct 2015 22:32:21 +0000http://manchestermule.com/?p=20999A Manchester Housing Action event took place in Salford on Sunday, aiming to bring together local people and groups working to find solutions to the housing crisis. The free public event included contributions from Generation Rent, The Radical Housing Network and Focus E15.

Pariticipants of the Housing Action event.

Speakers from Focus E15 shared their victories in preventing evictions and disrupting housing conferences in London, offering advice on how similar victories could be attained in Greater Manchester.

The housing crisis is showing no signs of abating. In Greater Manchester, 3,971 tenants were evicted for rent arrears (Apr 2013 to Mar 2015), the highest two year level recorded over the last ten years, according to a report in the Manchester Evening News.

Manchester City Council’s annual count of rough sleepers in Manchester during a night in November 2014 came to 43; it was 7 in 2010. Local charities estimate that the real number is double that of the annual official count.

The event at Islington Mill in Salford was well attended by residents of Salford and Manchester, who had much to contribute during the discussion sessions. Steve North, a Unison Union member spoke of his experience of private renting. He had been in 13 properties in 13 years and now fears he will never get a permanent home for his family.

“Our rights are non-existent,” said North, who expressed that he did not feel able to challenge housing issues as he would issues at work.

Along with North, John Clegg from Unite in the Community Greater Manchester Branch also pledged union support for campaigns fighting for tenants rights.

Members of Focus E15, a London based grass roots campaign for decent housing for all, travelled to Salford to speak at the event. Emer Mary Morris has been a Focus E15 member since 2014, when the group occupied flats on the Carpenter Council Estate in East London, which had been left boarded up and empty for years. Morris also spoke of Focus E15 actions in disrupting the MIPIM UK international property fair last year:

Emer Mary Morris of Focus E15

“We dressed up as delegates going to the conference and actually rushed the doors and got the conference closed down for a couple of hours, while Boris Johnson was meant to be the next speaker.

“It was a really playful celebratory attitude that particularly Focus E15 bring to the protest. It’s not about being violent or anything, we are actually being very celebratory.”

This year’s MIPIM conference, which began yesterday, is taking place at Olympia in London. Both Salford City Council and Manchester City Council will have stands there, with the cost of the stands being up to £505 per square metre according to a report in the Salford Star, which describes the conference as ‘the largest property orgy in the country’.

Pollyanna Steiner is a community organiser for Generation Rent, a national campaign for tenants rights, and one of the organisers for the event along with Kate Hardy and Tom Gillespie. Steiner was happy with progress made during the meeting.

“It was a forum for freedom of expression about housing issues people are experiencing, and a safe place for sharing that. It was a space for progressing and exchanging ideas about how to organise against the kind of issues we are seeing in the housing crisis; for example, resistance to eviction and how to collaborate and share resources when you have so much taken away at a community level.”

Kate Hardy, a member of Feminist Fightback, was involved with the Focus E15 campaign in London. When she met Pollyanna they had the idea of inviting Focus E15 members up to talk about their work in London. Hardy said:

“There is a serious housing crisis in Manchester, which I think has been relatively hidden up to now.

“You can obviously see that there is the Ark and there is visible street homelessness, but what hasn’t been quite talked about is the kind of things we heard today, about tenants having their leases changed, very poor conditions and lots of attacks on people with disabilities. It has really made visible all the different strands of the housing crisis that are happening in Manchester.”

When asked what advice she would give to the people of Greater Manchester struggling with housing issues, Morris answered simply: “talk to each other.”

“The strongest power they have against us is that they isolate us and try to make people feel alone. The more that you talk to each other, the more you realise other people are going through exactly the same thing that you are. The more you gather together and start organising and talking, the more you can build a consistent movement and fight back.”

]]>http://manchestermule.com/article/seeds-of-resistance-sown-at-housing-crisis-event-in-salford/feed1Housing crisis: when does a crisis become a disaster?http://manchestermule.com/article/housing-crisis-when-does-a-crisis-become-a-disaster
http://manchestermule.com/article/housing-crisis-when-does-a-crisis-become-a-disaster#commentsFri, 16 Oct 2015 11:20:54 +0000http://manchestermule.com/?p=20981Greater Manchester is being hard hit by the housing crisis just like the rest of the country. Tory incompetence in housing policy is pushing many people to the brink of homelessness, while more fall over that precipice every day.

The housing crisis is nothing new, there has been an awareness of the growing problem ever since the Right to Buy policy was introduced in 1980 by the Thatcher led Tory government. The policy gave 5 million council house tenants the right to buy their home from the local council at discount prices, due to the lack of new council houses being built this led to a severe depletion in council housing stock. The decrease in housing stock was exacerbated by the fall in council house building, by local authorities, to insignificant levels by 1996. The graph below also illustrates that the loss of a large proportion of new build houses that were council houses pre 1980 has not been filled by the efforts of Housing Associations and private enterprise.

In an attempt to increase the amount of affordable housing the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (section 106) was introduced. This required a new housing development, of over 15 dwellings, to provide a set proportion of affordable housing, that proportion being 20% in Manchester. The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), a fixed rate tax on new developments, was also introduced in 2010 with the intention of it funding infrastructure projects to support the local area.

In 2013, Financial Viability Assessments (FVA) was introduced to the Section 106 affordable housing requirements. This meant that property developers could appeal against their obligations to provide affordable housing if they could show, by a viability appraisal, that doing so would reduce their profit margin too much, making the development non-viable. The problem with these viability appraisals is that they are presented by expensive property consultancies in a complex and impenetrable manner. ‘Councils just don’t have the expertise to challenge viability reports… We can’t argue back’, a senior planning officer was reported to say in the Guardian.

A major problem with FVAs is their lack of transparency as they are not subject to scrutiny. In a freedom of information request to Manchester City Council, it was revealed that MCCs financial viability assessment plan is not available to: the public, local councillors, local authority planning committee’s or local authority scrutiny committees. MCC also admitted that they did not get independent validation of FVAs using the Government District Valuer Service.

The Salford Star reported how in twelve months developers managed to dodge planning fees of over £19 million and avoided paying for over 800 affordable homes by submitting FVAs that showed they would not make sufficient profit. Yet those same property developers were still making up to £24 million in profit on each contract.

Devo Manc

The Devo Manc deal incorporates a £300 million housing fund, to build 10,000 – 15,000 homes over ten years, that is under the control of the newly appointed interim Greater Manchester (GM) Mayor Tony Lloyd. You may have hoped that this fund would be used to address the severe shortage of affordable housing; sadly that is not the case.

Another report from the Salford Star showed that £42.6 million of the GM housing fund has already been loaned to property developers to build on sites including Trinity Way in Salford and the contentious Pomona site in Trafford. Salford City Council failed to collect £1.28 million CIL for the Trinity way site, and lost the opportunity to build 76 affordable homes due to the developers FVA.

Gerald Kaufman pointed out at a recent public meeting on Devo Manc that £300 million was just ‘a drop in the ocean’ towards Greater Manchester’s housing needs, and that over ten years it amounts to only £3 million per borough per year.

Housing bubble

The shortage of housing is one of the major factors resulting in the rocketing price of housing. After the economic crash in 2007/8 the housing market was the first thing to recover as the rest of the economy struggled; despite the fact that an inflated housing market in the USA was one of the major factors in precipitating the economic crash. In July 2015 the Office for National Statistics stated the average price of a house in the UK was £282,000. The average wage in the UK is £24,648 gross, which only enables that person to take out a mortgage on a house worth £110,000.

In the Guardian, Owen Jones pointed out the hypocrisy of a Tory party calling itself the party of home ownership. ‘There are almost 250,000 fewer English and Welsh homeowners since David Cameron became prime minister. Even more staggeringly, the number of homeowners aged below 34 has plummeted by 50%’. He went on to describe how home ownership had dropped to its lowest level in three decades, and how the Tory ‘Help to Buy‘ scheme was inflating house prices.

Private rented sector

An inevitable outcome of the factors mentioned is that the private rented sector is booming, where people pay substantially higher rents for lower quality accommodation when compared to social housing. Private landlords now own one in five homes, and 4 out of 10 council houses sold with the Right to Buy scheme are also owned by private landlords. Private renters also have to deal with the insecurity of short term contracts and the ill health that often accompanies poor housing conditions. In 2010 the Building Research Establishment estimated it costs the NHS £600 million a year to deal with ill health caused by poor housing, another avoidable burden on our overstretched health system.

Generation Rent is an organisation fighting for change in the private rented sector. Their website states that private renting has doubled in the last decade, and that around a third of renters have had to cut back on food and heating. They campaign for improvements in: affordability, professional management (i.e. a national register of landlords), security of tenure and living conditions; and encourage people to lobby their local MP to improve private renting.

Tenants in the UK not only pay the highest average rents in Europe, they also pay the largest percentage of their income to pay the rent (see graph above). Along with house prices, rents have also risen. Between 2008-09 and 2012-13 average weekly rents increased in the private rented sector by 7% from £153 to £163, according to the English Housing Survey.

The problem of the 7% rise in rents is compounded by the drop in real wages. The International Labour Organisation reported in 2013 that the average real wage in the UK had fallen by 7.1%, relative to the average wage in 2007.

Homelessness

Insecure short term private rental contracts and shortage of social housing combined with cuts to social security and housing benefits, has seen a steady rise in homelessness in Greater Manchester and across the UK.

According to government figures, in the first quarter of 2014 the number of households accepted as statutorily homeless was 12,540; this had risen to 13,650 by the last quarter, a rise of 8.9 %. The number of English households in temporary accommodation rose from 58,440 to 61,970 between 31st March and 31st December 2014, a rise of 6%. Manchester City Councils annual count of rough sleepers in Manchester on one night last November came to 43, it was 7 in 2010; local charities estimate that the real number is double that of the annual official count.

Homelessness can only get worse with the cuts, £46 billion over 5 years, to social security announced by George Osborne. The removal of housing benefit entitlement from 18 to 21 year olds threatens a group who are already suffering rates of unemployment 3 times that of the general population. According to information published by Shelter the removal of housing benefit from 18 to 21 year olds will affect 19,894 people in the UK. Not all of these will have the option of living with family members as 62% of young people become homeless because friends and relatives will no longer accommodate them, often due to relationship breakdown. Housing benefit also pays for temporary and emergency accommodations such as hostels and domestic violence refuges. Cutting this benefit can only result in more young people, our future, sleeping rough.

A report by Crisis called ‘At what cost’ provides a compelling argument of the economic folly that allowing homelessness to persist and rise engenders. It estimates the cost to the taxpayer, over a year, of preventing a person becoming homeless or letting that person become homeless. In the examples presented (based on real costs and experiences of the homeless) it estimates the extra cost to the taxpayer of not preventing homelessness ranges between £3,000 and £19,000 per person.

Government Policy

So what is the current Tory government doing about tackling this crisis started by a previous Tory government in the 80s? Every policy this government pursues appears to make the problem worse. Along with the mentioned Right to Buy, Help to Buy, social security cuts and removing housing benefit from under twenty one year olds the following policies also exacerbate the housing crisis:

extending the ‘Right to Buy’ to housing association properties

forcing councils/ housing associations to sell their most expensive properties

bedroom tax

abolishing demands that developers provide a certain amount of affordable housing to rent in new developments

cuts to local authority Homelessness Services

Although the Tories are primarily to blame for this crisis, the previous Labour government and current Labour councils have done nothing to address the problem. Our political system has become so short sighted that it struggles to see beyond its own nose. Having only knee jerk reactions to whatever the mainstream media deems an important issue at the time, resulting in incoherent, disjointed and more importantly ineffective strategies to deal with problems like housing.

When does a crisis become a disaster? The answer is it already has, for the ever increasing number of homeless people on our streets. Every day there are more living on the brink of disaster due to the austerity measures pursued by this government. The Tory agenda is to provide more security for those who already have it and less security for those who most need it, a cynical ploy to secure support amongst their voters. Everyone needs to stand up, be counted and become active if we are to oppose these Tory designs to take our society back to the Dark Ages.

Conrad Bower

A ‘Manchester Housing Action’ event is taking place this Sunday, October 18th, organising the local community around tackling the housing crisis in Manchester. For more details click here.

]]>http://manchestermule.com/article/housing-crisis-when-does-a-crisis-become-a-disaster/feed2Sorrow at another childs death fuels Stand Up To Racism campaign’s determination to show solidarity with asylum seekershttp://manchestermule.com/article/sorrow-at-another-childs-death-fuels-stand-up-to-racism-campaigns-determination-to-show-solidarity-with-asylum-seekers
http://manchestermule.com/article/sorrow-at-another-childs-death-fuels-stand-up-to-racism-campaigns-determination-to-show-solidarity-with-asylum-seekers#commentsThu, 15 Oct 2015 20:56:24 +0000http://manchestermule.com/?p=20962

The baby boy who was recently washed up dead on a beach in Kos is further strengthening Greater Manchester’s commitment to extending solidarity to people who are refugees.

This death echoes the tragedy of Alan Kurdi, who was found dead on a Turkish beach over a month ago, he and his family were trying to cross over to Kos. The body of the boy recently washed up on the beach in Kos has still not been identified, and perhaps never will. This Autumn, 169 people including 44 children are reported to have drowned or be missing in the Aegean Sea. On Saturday the 17th October, Greater Manchester Stand Up To Racism will take a delegation to Calais to show solidarity to the asylum seekers who have made it to the refugee camps in the North of France.

a Stand Up To Racism spokesperson shared his misgivings of the attitudes adopted toward migrants:

‘This government, along with their friends in the media, have done their utmost to dehumanise the tens of thousands of refugees fleeing war and desperate poverty in the Middle East and North Africa. They have focused their venom particularly on the thousands of refugees camping out in terrible conditions in Calais’.

Tens of thousands protested at the Tory Party Conference which took place in Manchester on the 4th October, demonstrating a strong, and growing, social cohesion against austerity and racism. This demonstration of collective unity seems to contradict the Home Secretary, Theresa May’s claim that Britain’s ‘socially cohesion’ is threatened by mass immigration. May also blamed migration for the current lack of housing, jobs and hospital beds during her conference speech

Rhetta Moran from the Manchester human rights organisation RAPAR, and organiser for the Stand Up To Racism campaign, was dissapointed in the governments attitude toward migrants. ‘Their sentiments, that are intended to divide and rule us, are astonishing. The fact is that our government’s economic policies pose a far greater threat to the population’s standard of living than the refugees seeking safety here.’

Manchester Stand Up To Racism now calls on: anti-racists,tradeunionists, politicians, academics, students, youth, faith, refugee and community groups to stand in opposition to the dehumanisation and scapegoating of those fleeing wars, famine and repression. Support the convoys taking much-needed items to Calais, and take part in local activities welcoming migrants and refugees to our cities and towns.

This call for action has resulted in many local organisations signing up to support the campaign (see list below). The delegation leaves at 4am Saturday morning, if you want to contribute before then details are included below.

]]>http://manchestermule.com/article/sorrow-at-another-childs-death-fuels-stand-up-to-racism-campaigns-determination-to-show-solidarity-with-asylum-seekers/feed0Manchester Housing Action event this Sundayhttp://manchestermule.com/article/manchester-housing-action-event-this-sunday
http://manchestermule.com/article/manchester-housing-action-event-this-sunday#commentsWed, 14 Oct 2015 12:27:52 +0000http://manchestermule.com/?p=20956A Manchester Housing Action event is taking place this Sunday, October 18th, organising the local community around tackling the housing crisis in Manchester.

The free event is being hosted by Kate Hardy, Tom Gillespie and the Manchester branch of campaigning organisation, Generation Rent, at Salford’s Islington Mill. It is aimed at bringing together the communities, charities and campaigners who are affected by the increasing impact of housing issues, and hopes to create a network in Manchester to resist the housing crisis.

There will be guest speakers from Focus E15, a group of single mothers in Newham who have been organising resistance to housing policy since being evicted from their young persons’ hostel in 2013, and the Radical Housing Network, an umbrella association of similar groups struggling with housing issues across the capital.

The event organisers are putting a call out to anyone affected by the housing crisis in Manchester to attend:

“Are you facing a housing problem? Are you trying to organise in your community to resist displacement or to deal with a dodgy private landlord? Are you facing a problem with rent arrears?

Do you want to meet other people and organise together for better housing in the city?

Over 80,000 people across Greater Manchester are waiting for social housing. There are 25,000 empty homes while people sleep on the streets.

Only we, together, can improve living conditions in our city and support each other in our different struggles.”

Kate Hardy is a lecturer in Work and Employment Relations at Leeds University, and Tom Gillespie is co-founder of Common House, a collective community space for radical groups in Bethnal Green. They will be hosting the event alongside Generation Rent, a network of renters campaigning for professionally managed, secure, decent and affordable private rented homes in sustainable communities.

There will also be workshops held to share experiences of housing problems, free food and refreshments.

Book your free place here.
You can find out more about the event here and get more information on Generation Rent here.

]]>http://manchestermule.com/article/manchester-housing-action-event-this-sunday/feed0”We will build the movement of movements” – Campaigners meet at ‘Time to Act’ conference in Manchesterhttp://manchestermule.com/article/we-will-build-the-movement-of-movements-campaigners-meet-at-time-to-act-conference-in-manchester
http://manchestermule.com/article/we-will-build-the-movement-of-movements-campaigners-meet-at-time-to-act-conference-in-manchester#commentsSun, 11 Oct 2015 15:55:00 +0000http://manchestermule.com/?p=20949As the Tories left town with egg on their face, a coalition of campaign groups hosted their own conference on Saturday called ‘Time to Act’ – a day of speeches and workshops covering a range of issues surrounding climate change.

Organised by individual campaigners alongside various groups including Global Justice Now, Campaign Against Climate Change, Stop TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) and Friends of the Earth, to name a few, the event was called ahead of the Paris climate talks and ‘The People’s March for Climate, Justice and Jobs’ on the 29th November in London. Organisers emphasised the continued need to build support and solidarity for the movement.

The Paris meeting, scheduled for December, will be the 21st Conference of Parties (COP) where 190 countries will discuss the global plan to tackle climate change. However, campaigners aren’t so sure that we can rely on governments to act, Rachel Thompson from Reclaim the Power said: “The leaders won’t listen in Paris, they want global inequality. They are powerful and in that position because they benefit from fossil fuels.”

First to speak was John Hilary, the author of ‘The Poverty of Capitalism’ praised the opposition to the Tories in Manchester last week and said he was inspired to see so many diverse groups coming together to make positive change. “We are living through a special moment, people who have never been politically active before are saying ‘we know what the government is doing and we want nothing of it.’”

Hilary noted that people are linking different issues such as fracking, TTIP, austerity and making the connection that it’s down to a fundamental political choice. “People are looking at the system not to just tweak it, they are looking to make deep and lasting change.” On capitalism, Hilary stated: “It continues to expand without limit, but the natural world cannot survive this, capitalism refuses to respect nature’s limits.”

Speaking about the renewable energy revolution in Germany, about the campaign for ‘One Million Climate Jobs’ and the need to invest in clean energy, Hilary stated: “We need to build a broader movement for system change, we will build the movement of movements.”

Next to take to the stage was Kate Pickett, co-author of the influential book ‘The Spirit Level’. Pickett focused on the social and psychological impacts of capitalism, she talked about the importance of resolving inequality and the affect it has on all our lives. “A lot of people are suffering, outward wealth reflects inner worth. People need to understand we can build a sustainable society without losing any quality of life.” In dealing with these issues Pickett advocated the need for stronger communities, trade unions, more employee owned institutions and cooperatives. “Societies that work for the common good are more compassionate,” she added.

Nick Dearden, from Global Justice Now, brought the morning session to a close by addressing what he views as the biggest obstacle in the fight against climate change – global corporate deals like TTIP. “Trade agreements give corporations the power to sue governments, in secret courts, if they chose to act in the interests of the people. Our role is to expose dogma that fuels poverty, inequality and climate change, we need to take on the big six but most of all we need systematic change.”

Workshops, including ‘Inequality, Migration and Racism’ which gave people a chance to find out more and discuss a range of topics in more detail, ran throughout the afternoon. The room then stood in solidarity with Ryedale, North Yorkshire who are currently engaged in a campaign against Barclays bank that owns 97% of Third Energy, the company who are planning on fracking across their community.

As the afternoon went on attendees heard from Chris Baugh, from the Public Commercial Services Union, who opened his talk with: “Solidarity is the most powerful weapon against those who would divide us.” He scoffed at the self-proclaimed ‘greenest government ever’ who slashed subsides for wind and solar, cut funding to environmental agencies and who promote dirty energy such as fracking in protected areas.

Baugh went on to describe austerity as “just a transfer of wealth – the richest 1% now have as much as the poorest 55%.” He finished with an offer of hope, though: “Trade unions need to recognise climate change is a union issue, we need to use this opportunity to set out alternatives in the form of One Million Climate Jobs and to create new jobs away from the big polluters.”

Rachel Thompson, from Reclaim the Power, offered her take on the battle for the environment: “We need to focus on climate justice as a wider issue and not a single-narrative focus, it’s the system that creates climate change and furthers inequality.”

Thompson added that the movement must be more representative of society, that there should be a focus on personal stories rather than big names, and the importance of listening to the global south where climate change is happening already. “We need to respect the diversity of tactics as we all have the same aims, direct action doesn’t have to break the law. We need to get back to basics, what was achieved at Barton Moss in two years with the anti-fracking campaign was by normal people knocking on doors. IGas haven’t been back and the community has started their own energy co-op, if we can achieve that what else can we do?”

Other speakers included George Marshall of Climate Outreach Information Network, he expressed the need to appeal to people with different values and to counter the disassociation people feel when confronted with climate change. Martin Empson, co-author of ‘One Million Climate Jobs’, stressed the danger of a 4° temperature rise, the course we are heading for by the end of the Century, “It will be a different planet, It will be climate chaos.”

Friends of the Earth’s Asad Rehman brought the day to an end with a passionate speech highlighting how climate change is already happening across the world in the form of floods, droughts and extreme weather, but insisted that “for every problem we have a solution.”

All speakers echoed the importance of standing together, building a movement and how powerful we can be when united.

Carla Viney

Stop TTIP MCR meets every 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month at 7pm, usually in the UoM’s Student Union on Oxford Road.

Global Justice Now will be holding a meeting on TTIP on Monday 2nd November 6.30pm at Methodist Central Hall.

To find more about ‘One million climate jobs’ go to: http://www.campaigncc.org/sites/data/files/sites/data/files/Docs/one%20million%20climate%20jobs%202014.pdf